I would ask yogis ‘What are you trying to do when you sit in the meditation hall?’ Some say they are trying to calm down; others are trying to make thinking disappear. Some try to sit not moving for an hour. There are many wrong ideas.

When we sit and meditate, we’re simply trying to be aware moment to moment – this awareness this moment and the next awareness next moment, again and again. That’s it. Good or bad, we try to be aware.

When defilement comes, yogis try to push it away; but the meditation objective is to try to be aware moment to moment, and later, to understand the nature of defilement.